Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): While the traffic police seem to be at an arm’s length from managing traffic during both the peak and the non-peak hours, drivers charging e-rickshaws in the middle of the roads have added to traffic woes. During the time when traffic accumulates, the traffic cops are nowhere to drive out e-rickshaws and manage traffic gridlocks.
The grim situation of traffic gridlocks has surfaced in both the old and new areas of the city, namely, in front of the Rangmahal talkies, Budhwara, Itwara and Jinsi, to name a few. Scores of e-rickshaw drivers, who are driving the vehicles without permission from the RTO, often park their vehicles in the middle of the road, near the charging sockets set up near the road.
During this, the congested stretches, which are narrow in width, often cause traffic gridlocks, while the e-rickshaw drivers refuse to remove their vehicles to ease the traffic load. Meanwhile, the traffic police personnel do not arrive at the scene, even despite calling up on the helpline numbers, as alleged by the residents of the said areas.
A shopkeeper operating in Chowk Bazaar, named Iftaar Qureshi, told Free Press that upon calling on the traffic helpline number, the phone calls are never received in one go. Even if someone attends the call, they promise to get the issue addressed only to never arrive on the scene.
Haphazard driving by e-rickshaw drivers leads to accidents
Haphazard driving by e-rickshaw drivers is another grave issue in the city, who halt their vehicles suddenly on the road upon spotting the passengers. A jewellery shop owner, whose store is located on the TT Nagar main road, requested anonymity and said that due to such acts by the e-rickshaw drivers, the ones commuting behind them end up ramming into them many a time and the incidents end up in arguments and disputes. He added that there is no tail-light on many of the e-rickshaws, due to which the commuters fail to ascertain that the vehicle is about to stop, whenever the e-rickshaw drivers apply brakes.
